This video is by Greg Tran, a student at Harvard GSD. It’s all about how architecture is presented and the media through which it is depicted, focusing somewhat on the deceit of“3D” on a 2D screen. Proposing a way to“mediate the mediums,” he shows off what he thinks a world with instantly moldable digital 3D models were a reality.

I’m cool with all that, and the video is really well done. What I want to address is this: what are the implications of a real environment that can be instantly tailored to our wants? It might be great fun to be able to change the world around us, a la Inception, but there’s a huge problem lurking in that ability.

Filter bubbles are a major drag in our society now, especially online and in the media. We only look at what we want to look at, only read what we agree with, and congregate with people that share the same views. The“segregation by income” phenomenon we talking about in Suburban Nation is a precursor of this. It’s been going on for a while, and the impacts of it are plaguing our society and political system.

A world where we can have total control over what we choose to see? No thanks.